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| Monday, September 11 Georgia, Miami suffer blows to title hopes By Bob Harig Special to ESPN.com | |||||
| Butch Davis is well aware of the tradition at the University of Miami. As an assistant in the 1980s, he helped put the pieces in place for three national championships in five seasons. He knows what it's like to have lofty expectations -- and meet them.
Now, finally, a decade or so later, that same sort of euphoria was sweeping the campus. The Hurricanes were ranked among the preseason top five, and there was talk of contending for a national championship.
But as a 34-29 loss at Washington showed on Saturday, the Hurricanes are not quite back.
Perhaps they were overrated, this team that returned a slew of talented and speedy skill-position players but one that would have to rely on an inexperienced quarterback. Perhaps they will be a powerhouse by the end of the season, when games against Florida State and Virginia Tech can still make or break their season.
For now, however, it's back to the drawing board before getting back on top.
A program seeking a return to glory needed to strangle a game such as this. Instead, the Hurricanes seemingly strangled themselves, allowing 351 yards, committing nearly 100 yards worth of penalties. Their Heisman Trophy candidate, Santana Moss, had just one reception for 7 yards.
It was a long trip of some 3,300 miles to learn that the Hurricanes are not quite ready for the big time.
"It's frustrating, and there's no way around it," said UM linebacker Dan Morgan, a senior who grew up following UM and accepted a scholarship offer in 1997 knowing the program was not up to its usual standards.
Davis, 48, has spent most of the past five seasons trying to rebuild the dynasty, sometimes believing it would come faster than it has come, other times saying it would take longer.
UM was slapped with NCAA probation late in his first season in 1995, and the resulting reduction in 31 scholarships over three years was a blow from which the Hurricanes are just now recovering.
For once, there is a full contingent of scholarship players battling on the practice field. There is the speed and depth on both sides of the ball that previously made UM the most feared program in the country.
There was excitement for several reasons. Miami finished 9-4 last season, 6-1 in the Big East, and won seven of its final eight games, including an impressive 28-13 victory over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl. It was UM's first New Year's game since 1995, and led to offseason optimism.
"This is the year that's do or die," Moss said before the season. "We have more depth and we have our scholarships. We have no excuses."
But the belief that the Canes should be contenders instead of pretenders was apparently just wishful thinking.
Both teams had suffered through NCAA sanctions after sharing the national title in 1991. Both teams had their share of dark days. One game does not make a season, but for the Hurricanes who ranked No. 4 heading into the game, it was a test they did not pass.
Quarterback Ken Dorsey looked good in four previous starts, all against inferior competition. But the sophomore struggled against a better opponent, completing just 15 of 34 passes for 215 yards and one touchdown against a secondary that allowed big yardage to Division I-AA Idaho a week earlier.
"He found out what it's like playing in front of a hostile crowd," said offensive tackle Joaquin Gonzalez. "He learned a big lesson."
Now, however, there are more questions than answers. In addition to dropping to 7-13 against ranked teams, Davis still has not proved that his teams can avoid a surprising loss to a non-ranked opponent, defeats that have plagued him in recent years.
And he has yet to defeat Florida State or Virginia Tech, going 0-10 against those schools that await.
So much for that preseason euphoria.
Another pretender If Georgia wasn't going to win the Southeastern Conference's East Division, the Bulldogs were at least expected to challenge Florida and Tennessee for the title. Many preseason polls had them ranked ahead of both the Gators and Volunteers.
Perhaps Joe Paterno can be second-guessed for his handling of Rashard Casey, the Penn State quarterback who was charged with beating up an off-duty police officer during the offseason, yet still starts for the Nittany Lions. But when it comes to preparing his teams to play the game, we'll give JoePa and his 35 years of experience, including a couple of national titles and undefeated seasons, the benefit of the doubt. Penn State's 0-2 start was difficult to comprehend, and perhaps the Nittany Lions took out some of their frustrations Saturday with a 67-7 victory over Louisiana Tech. Their five-game regular season losing streak was the longest in 69 years. And for the first time since 1964, they had loss three straight at home. So it was understandable if fans, players, even Paterno himself, were frustrated. But when tailback Larry Johnson ripped Penn State coaches for being too set in their ways following last week's shocking defeat to Toledo, you had to take notice. A player questioning Paterno? A player whose father, Larry Sr., is a defensive coach on Paterno's staff? To Paterno's credit, he did not come down on Johnson. "It's hard to get angry with people when they're frustrated because they think they and the team can do better," Paterno said. "I'd never discipline a guy like that. I may sit them down and say, "Enough's enough'. . . but I'm not going to condemn anybody. "I'm trying to get kids to be that aggressive, that competitive and work that hard. Why get unhappy about it? Sometimes they don't know why they're unhappy. Sometimes they say stupid things that aren't accurate, but they're 19- and 20-year-old kids. "I say stuff every now and then that I wish I hadn't said to the press, and I've been doing this for 153 years." QB controversy The numbers look pretty good: 15 of 23 for 193 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Some quarterbacks will settle for that over the course of a game. Florida's Jesse Palmer did it in a little more than a quarter and a half on Saturday against Middle Tennessee State. Coach Steve Spurrier still wasn't pleased. He inserted backup Rex Grossman, who completed 9 of 14 passes for 95 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. A quarterback controversy heading into Saturday's game at Tennessee? "I was hoping Jesse could go the distance," Spurrier said. "I hoped he would fire it in there the way he's capable and he would be our quarterback the whole year. But he didn't do that. I have to pull the strings, one way or another.. . . It would be very simple if we had a guy who was clearly our best player. Some time this week we'll have to figure it out." Bob Harig covers college football for the St. Petersburg Times. | ALSO SEE Nebraska, Florida St. remain 1-2 in poll despite close calls | ||||
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